Hunting the desert bighorn on Tiburon Island is about as raw and remote as sheep hunting gets in North America. Sitting off the coast of Sonora in the Sea of Cortez, Isla Tiburón is a wild, untamed piece of country that has quietly become one of the most sought after desert sheep destinations on the continent. Every ram on the island is native, free range, and the hunt is run entirely on foot from mobile spike camps set wherever the country and the sheep take you.
For the hunter looking for something bigger than a trophy on the wall, Tiburon Island delivers the kind of desert sheep hunt that used to define the sport. Quiet, self contained, and completely on the sheep's terms.
Our Tiburon Island desert sheep hunts are run as a true backpack style spike hunt. Rather than working out of one fixed camp, you and your guides move through the island on foot, spiking out in different locations as the rams and the country dictate. Camps are light, mobile, and set wherever the day's glassing takes you. It is one of the few desert bighorn hunts left in North America where you can genuinely head into sheep country with everything you own on your back and hunt a desert bighorn the way it was meant to be done.
Days are spent covering ground and glassing from vantage points across the island's coastal ranges. Your guides know the country and the sheep, and the hunt is run at the pace the mountain sets, not the pace of a schedule.
Tiburon Island is the largest island in Mexico and sits just off the Sonoran coast in the Sea of Cortez. The country is classic desert bighorn habitat. Steep, broken volcanic ranges rising straight out of the ocean, cut by dry washes and holding pockets of feed that concentrate rams in patterns you simply do not see on the mainland. The island's isolation is what makes it what it is. Sheep here see very little human pressure, and the herd carries the age class and horn genetics you would expect from country that has been left largely alone.
Realistic expectations on Tiburon Island sit in the 165 to 175 inch plus range. Rams over 180 inches have been taken here, but they should be seen as the exception, not the standard. Anyone showing up expecting a guaranteed 180 plus ram has been sold the wrong story on this island. The honest expectation is a mature, heavy horned free range desert bighorn in that 165 to 175 inch plus class, hunted in one of the most remote pieces of sheep country on the continent, with the outside chance the ram of a lifetime pushes past 180.
Hunters should come prepared to hike, sleep on the mountain, and shoot well at reasonable distance. A hunter in decent shape, willing to spike out and let the hunt take the time it needs, will have every opportunity at a mature ram.
All flights will need to be booked with Hermosillo, Mexico, as your final destination. Due to the laws pertaining to firearms in Mexico, hunters bringing their rifles will need to fly directly from Phoenix to Hermosillo with no connections anywhere in Mexico. Hermosillo is where your rifle permit will be located upon entry into the country. Upon your arrival you will need to check your rifle. We handle all gun permits prior to your arrival, along with notifying Mexico customs of your necessary permits. Once you've cleared security a TKO employee will meet with you, and the time of arrival will determine whether you depart for staging immediately or commence first thing the following morning.
From Hermosillo, we handle the ground transport and the boat crossing to Isla Tiburón. Once on the island, the hunt is fully self contained and run out of spike camps.
All of our Tiburon Desert Sheep hunts are a minimum of 10 full hunting days. Longer trips for the Mule Deer enthusiasts/freaks can be booked upon request. Clients can expect to fly into Hermosillo Airport the day before the hunt and depart the day after the hunt ends.
Hunt dates are extremely limited. Call or email us for availability.
